There were three engines available in the first-generation Neon, and this 1998 Dodge Neon Highline has the “hottest” one. 150 horsepower isn’t exactly hot for 2026, but in 1998, in a 2,500-pound car, it was at least warm for ’98. This one is posted here on craigslist in Mullins, South Carolina, and the seller is asking $3,999. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for the tip!
I love the notchback body style over fastbacks for most vehicles, even if they have a tiny trunk lid, so not much of a notch. The Neon was available in either a four-door sedan, as seen here, or a two-door notchback, and that’s it. Chrysler offered the Neon for all three of its divisions in North America, but here in the U.S., we got the Dodge and Plymouth versions. The Highline trim is a step above the base model, and the “power bulge” hood and rear spoiler were options.
This car appears to be a very nice example, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Neon in black. It looks almost formal, despite being just over 14 feet long and looking like a jelly bean. Albeit a sporty jelly bean with the rear spoiler and “power bulge” hood for the relatively high-zoot engine. Here’s what it looks like inside the trunk compartment. I don’t see a flaw on or in this car anywhere, other than whatever made that ring in the trunk carpet. Is that rust or just an oil stain?
The first-generation Neon was made from 1994 for the 1995 model year until late 1999. The next-gen cars were only made until the end of 2005 and only came with four doors. I made a quick convertible last year just to see what it might look like. The interior also looks like a time capsule, but a five-speed manual would sure make this car more fun to drive. As expected, the back seat also looks perfect.
The engine is a Chrysler 2.0-liter DOHC 16-valve inline-four with 150 horsepower and 133 lb-ft of torque when new. Passing through a three-speed TorqueFlite, power is sent to the front wheels, and performance should be more than enough to keep up with modern traffic. Although most of today’s traffic is in the left lane, being held up by texting drivers, not to generalize. The seller gives zero description, so we have to go by the photos and the listed mileage of 59,073. This sure looks like a nice example, and $4,000 is almost nothing for a nice car today. Which one of you would be a buyer for this nice little Neon?
Waaay cool convertible SG!!😆
The best of these IMHO were the 2 dr 5 spd but this one would still be a decently fun grocery getter/gas sipper ($4.89 regular here!). This one is really clean for a 28yr old economy car and a good price from what’s showing.
GLWTS
$6,23 / gallon (91 octane) here in Mtn View, CA. (my 2013 Ford only runs on 91octane; anything lower causes the check engine light to go on…)
It makes me want to shop a Neon fastback. Unlike Scotty I generally prefer them to notchbacks at least on modern-ish compacts where they come with a bulky load-swallowing hatch.
Where do you find a fastback? I only recall the coupe and sedan.
@Nelson: sorry, I meant photoshop. I typed an apostrophe but it must have been lost to autocorrect.
Oh, if only this were a 2 door, 5 speed! Sharp little car! GLWTS!! :-)
5 speed definitely but I prefer the 4 door, it’s clear it was designed first and the 2 door an afterthought. If only it were a better ’90s color too!
I believe these cars replaced the Shadow, that replaced the Omni, and was pretty far down on the list of what people wanted. A knee jerk reaction to the Asian cars, but soon became unloved beaters parked outside trailer homes with a mini spare tire, mismatched fender and foggy headlights. They were good sellers, I read almost 100K/year, so there was a market for an Asian knockoff, there’s a turn around for ya’, but few bought another. It’s true, $4grand doesn’t buy much, and surprised it’s not sold.
Buddy had a stick shift one. Remember the long lever, and seemingly long throws too 💁♂️
My wife and I had considered one of these when they first came out. Remember the commercial, “Hi” when they came out. It was a Neon, Escort, or a base model Saturn we considered. We wound up getting the best deal on the Escort Sedan. I looked at that trunk photo and the only thing I can think of is maybe a flat tire at one point got tossed in the trunk and made a stain. But it looks oily like Scotty said. Maybe an oil drain pan? But for the price you can’t beat it. Looks like its in great shape.
Looks like it would be perfectly fine for a commuter car. Not too many “throw-away” cars which are 28 years old which are in good shape. But it does have the obligatory clouded headlights.
The convertible chop is cool, makes the car looks like it has a 202 inch wheelbase.
Thanks SG.
The length of time on the market, 24 days, highlights the lack of interest. Even though it’s not terrible expensive, it would have sold if potential buyers in the area saw it as a good value. These Neons have been forgotten, for good reason. Someone looking for cheap transportation will likely be looking for something at a lower price point, that means an economy car with bad paint or dings and dents or some other cosmetic issues.
Steve R
I usually rent nice to nicer cars on trips, but one year I decided to be frugal & ended up in one of these. As I drove I thought to myself, if ever there was a tunafish can that had a motor, this is it.
Back in ’98, I cross shopped these with the Honda Civic EX, Nissan 200SX SE-R, and Cavalier Z24. The ACR package or R/T were the ones to get.
I ended up going with the Civic because it had the cheapest lease payment , mainly because it had a higher residual value, so you actually got a more expensive car for less money per month. That’s when I learned that leasing can make sense a lot of times.
I had a 1995 Neon in the first model year of production. It was a 4 door Highline model with the 2.0 engine, automatic and air conditioning in Lapis Blue. My 132 horsepower Neon was better than the 88hp Escort base engine and the 120hp base Cavalier offering.
Worked on these cars back in the late 1990’s. Changed a lot of head gaskets for leaks. The new head gasket was a steel multilayer gasket.
Didn’t these run counter to common practice, with an aluminum engine block and iron head, causing the cylinder head problem?
I think so . It’s been a long time. I mostly remember the revised multilayer up graded head gasket which solved the oil leak problem back in the late 1990’s. There was a DOHC engine and a SOHC engine. Good enconomy cars and simple for the times. Manual trans was also a good choice. I also worked on the Jeep line back in those days and still do today.
Still have my garage queen ’99 R/T, original (shiny) paint, only try to drive it 3 or 4 times a year. She’s got Mopar XX rate springs, Koni yellows, Mopar ECU, Iceman Cold Air intake (they were proven to put down 10+hp) and a Modern Performance UDP. Two door, sunroof still works! Love my little neon.
I had a ’96 (no complaints!) and when someone at work dismissed it as a Japanese car, I had to tell him – Hey, this was made in Rockford! (Illinois)
Belvedere, IL
We has a 96, 4 door with auto and air. We loved it. When it needed the second head gasket, the dealer wanted to replace the engine. Chrysler said no, and sent a team of engineers to look at it This was at about 50,000 miles.They used the new gasket and different torque settings. We did not have any more problems. I miss the gas mileage though, great around town. On a trip from Oklahoma City to Kansas City, running with 85 mph traffic, 33 mpg.
For the love of Pete, I hope that rear end can be lowered and not the result of cheap Chinese springs.
Click on “more ads by this seller” to see a long list of interesting cars for sale. It looks like this is the same seller of the Colt twin stick from a few days ago.
neon noodle.
lol. Actually one of the few cars like it with an SCCA club race package from the factory. Solid handler. Followed up by the gen 2 SRT-4.
As high as gas is getting you could buy this and have it paid for in no time ,over putting gas in your big ole truck .
My wife and I bought a 2000 Plymouth Neon new in late 1999. It was black with charcoal interior, 2.0 with automatic. Fun little car to drive, became my driver after we got a new car. Ran well for a long time, my daughter took it to college and then I got it back. Had that car until 2016. It had 219,000 miles on it, still ran well overall, but the front end needed to be fully done. Wasn’t worth the $2500 it would take to make it was taken off the road then.